Geography and Habitat

Romania is located in the geographic centre of Europe, between 43° 37"07"-48°15"06" latitude North and 20°15"44"- 29°41"24" longitude East.

It neighbours to the East on the Republic of Moldova, the Ukraine, the Black Sea; to the South on Bulgaria; to the South and South-East on Yugoslavia; to the West on Hungary; and to the North on the Ukraine.

It stretches over 238,391 sq km, which ranks it 12th in Europe. 31% of Romania"s area is covered by mountains, 33% by hills and tablelands, and the rest of 36% by plains.

The mountains, the Romanian Carpathians, feature three main groups: the Eastern Carpathians (from the northern border to Prahova Valley) with the highest peak, Pietrosul (2303 m), in the Rodna Mountains; the Southern Carpathians (from Prahova Valley to the Timis-Cerna-Bistra-Strei corridor) reaching the highest elevation in the Fagaras Mountains (Moldoveanu Peak-2543 m); and the Western Carpathians (from the Danube Valley to the South to the Somes Valley to the North) with the highest elevation at the Cucurbata Peak (1848 m).

Inside the Carpathian arc lies the Plateau of Transylvania (its altitude varies between 400 m and 700 m): to the North-West-the Somes Plateau, to the East-the Plateau of Moldavia, to the South-the Plateau of Dobrudja.

The largest plain (Baragan), the country’s the main agricultural zone, lies in the South, running along the Danube.

The Danube Delta, located north of the Plateau of Dobrudja, is the most recent geographical feature in Romania. It has three main arms: Chilia, Sulina and Sfantul Gheorghe through which the Danube flows into the Black Sea. The Danube Delta stretches on the Romanian territory over an area of 4340 sq km, of which 78% is subject to flooding.

The mainstay of the drainage system in Romania is the Danube river, which flows on Romanian territory along 1075 km (out of a total length of 2850 km). Other major rivers: Mures (768 km), Olt (736 km), Prut (716 km), Siret (598 km), Ialomita (410 km), Somes (388 km), Arges (344 km), Jiu (331 km), Buzau (324 km), and Bistrita (290 km).

There are 2,300 lakes scattered all over the country (plus 1150 ponds) taking 2620 sq km. The largest lakes: Razelm (415 sq km), Sinoe (171 sq km), Brates (21 sq km), Tasaul (20 sq km), Techirghiol (12 sq km), and Snagov (5.8 sq km).

The climate is temperate continental, with slight ocean influences in the West, Mediterranean in the South-West, and excessively-continental in the North-East. The annual average temperature varies between 8°C in the North and 11°C in the South.

Average annual rainfall does not exceed 700 mm.

The population of Romania is of 21,680,976, according to the 2003 census, with a density of 91.7 inhabitants per square km.

Outside this country"s borders live another 12 million Romanians. In Europe, in the Republic of Moldova live about 2.8 million - plus those in Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, and Albania. In the United States of America and Canada live about 2 million Romanians. Large communities of Romanians live in Australia, South Africa and South America.

The administrative organization of Romania features 41 counties, plus Bucharest, the capital city of the country. In the counties, the basic administrative units are the towns and communes (made of several villages). There are 263 cities and towns, of which 80 municipalities, and 2685 communes with over 13 285 villages.

Besides Bucharest, which has a population of nearly 2.1 million, there are 17 cities with over 100 000 inhabitants, 7 of which exceed 300 000.

The population of Romania by ethnicity:

Nr. crt.	Total population 21.680.976 of which:		Percentage 100%
1	Romanians	19.399.597	89,5%
2	Hungarians	1.431.807	6,6%
3	Roma	535.140	2,5%
4	Ukrainians	61.098	0,3%
5	Germans	59.764	0,3%
6	Lippovan-Russians	35.791	0,2%
7	Turks	32.098	0,2%
8	Tartars	23.935	0,1%
9	Serbians	22.561	0,1%
10	Slovakians	17.226	0,1%
11	Bulgarians	8.025	0,03%
12	Croatians	6.807	0,03%
13	Greeks	6.472	0,03%
14	Jews	5.785	0,02%
15	Czechs	3.941	0,01%
16	Poles	3.559	0,01%
17	Italians	3.288	0,01%
18	Chinese	2.243	0.003%
19	Armenians	1.780	0,008%
20	Other etnnic groups	18.116	0,01%
21	Non-stated ethnic origin	5,935	0,02%